The Three Traits That Make or Break a Leader

In part three of my inter­view with Ajit Prab­hu, CEO and Co-Founder of Quest Glob­al, we get into the peo­ple side of build­ing a bil­lion-dol­lar busi­ness — and what it real­ly takes to scale a lead­er­ship team.

Ajit doesn’t just look for cre­den­tials. He looks for char­ac­ter. In this blog, we explore the three traits he believes every great leader must have: aspi­ra­tion, hunger, and humil­i­ty. And just as impor­tant — what he does when those traits aren’t there.

It’s a refresh­ing take on lead­er­ship devel­op­ment — clear, direct, and built on real-world lessons from decades of growth.

Find­ing the right peo­ple to help you scale your busi­ness isn’t about job titles, résumés, or even expe­ri­ence. It’s about behavior.

In this part of our con­ver­sa­tion, Ajit Prab­hu, CEO and Co-Founder of Quest Glob­al, shared a sim­ple but pow­er­ful lens he uses when eval­u­at­ing lead­ers — one that’s helped him grow his com­pa­ny from two peo­ple to over 21,000 around the world.

What to Look for: Aspi­ra­tion, Hunger, and Humility

Ajit’s not vague about what great lead­er­ship looks like. He boils it down to three traits:

• Aspi­ra­tion: Peo­ple who think big, who don’t need to be moti­vat­ed — they already are.
• Hunger: A bias for action. These are the peo­ple who roll up their sleeves and fig­ure it out.
• Humil­i­ty: The abil­i­ty to admit mis­takes and learn out loud, so the whole team gets better.

He’s not talk­ing the­o­ry here. This is how Quest builds its lead­er­ship bench — and pro­tects its culture.

When It’s Not Working

Even with this clar­i­ty, Ajit says the suc­cess rate is about one in three. Because you don’t real­ly know who some­one is until you’re in the trench­es with them.

When some­one isn’t a fit, Ajit doesn’t wait. He gives direct feed­back fast and gives them a shot to improve. Some do. And when they do, he cel­e­brates it.

It’s About Cul­ture, Not Control

Ajit’s approach is firm but deeply human. He’s not afraid to make hard calls — but he also believes in giv­ing peo­ple room to grow. It’s all in ser­vice of pro­tect­ing a cul­ture that rewards own­er­ship, learn­ing, and high standards.

That’s a rare com­bi­na­tion. And it’s one every founder or CEO try­ing to scale should pay close atten­tion to.

If you’re build­ing a team to take you to the next lev­el, ask your­self:
Do they dream big?
Will they get their hands dirty?
Can they say, ​“I got it wrong”?

If not — it might be time to stretch out a hand… or make a change.

Watch the full inter­view with Ajit below.

Chal­lenge

Look at your cur­rent lead­er­ship team — or the one you’re building.

• Who shows up with aspi­ra­tion, hunger, and humility?
• Who might be miss­ing one of those traits?

This week, have one hon­est con­ver­sa­tion that either stretch­es a hand — or sets a new standard.

Resources

• From $60 to $1 Bil­lion: Ajit Prab­hu’s Pur­pose-Dri­ven Journey
• Learn­ing One Big Thing at a Time: How Ajit Prab­hu Builds Endur­ing Companies
• Build­ing a Team of A‑Players
• Pod­cast Ep. 129 How to Iden­ti­fy A‑Players Dur­ing an Interview